Hotcakes and Tea
by lefcadio
Summary: Slight Daisuke x Ken. On a slow Sunday, what is there to do? Ken's caught in a thunderstorm, and Daisuke feels guilty. Utter fluff.


Tap, tap, tap. Thump. Tap, tap, thump.

At that point, the desk made a dangerous cracking sound, so Daisuke decided that, perhaps, it was better to stop taking his frustration out on his poor unsuspecting furniture. A sheet of paper lay in front of him, slightly rough around the edges, covered in doodles and indecipherable scribbles. If you squinted, though, you could probably make out some half-attempted algebra problems beneath it all.

Daisuke hated Sunday mornings. They were so _boring_. In theory, he was supposed to be doing his homework. After all, that was the deal: Ken was allowed over in the afternoon on the condition that Daisuke didn't have any work left to do. He pulled a face and crumpled up the sheet, tossing it over his shoulder to land in the vague vicinity of where his bin was positioned.

Of course, sometimes, it became necessary to resort to a little white lie in order to protect his Sunday afternoons with Ken. Why, of _course_ all of his work is done! And extra study, too! Now, unsurprisingly, Daisuke's 'paragon of virtue' act rarely convinces anybody, least of all his parents. (But with Jun lazing on the sofa, idly giving an amused running commentary on how Daisuke's still got _this much_ history homework left to do, and how he nearly failed his last maths test, usually he ends up aiming for pity instead.)

To his credit, it usually works. After all, if Daisuke's having a little trouble with something, surely having the nice Ichijouji boy over wouldn't hurt, would it? He's so quiet and polite, not to mention inordinately clever. Daisuke's so lucky to have such a gifted friend! (Never mind the fact that Ken's genius went out the window a few years ago - though Daisuke's still impressed that Ken does so well in school, even if it's not like before.) Either way, Daisuke can usually be sure that he'll get to see Ken.

He grinned and leaned back in his chair, idly starting to kick the wall instead. Life was fairly rote these days, and to be honest, pretty boring. He had friends at school and soccer club, but none of them were like Ken, or quite as much fun to be around. He never really stopped to consider this; it's just the way things _were_. Unsurprisingly, Ken went to a high school in Tamachi, so in general it was a bit too out of the way for spur of the moment visits (though Daisuke had been tempted a number of times).

Tap, tap, thump. Thump. Tap, tap, thump.

"Daisuke, what're you doing? Shut up!" Jun's muffled yell came through the wall, making him jump. Ahh, sisters. He reluctantly left the wall alone, then, and instead got up to go and find some juice. Another sound caught his attention, and he paused by the window.

A low rumble of thunder, and then the wet rushing sound of heavy rain. The sky was a deep grey, and Daisuke could look down and watch the treetops bend and sway under the onslaught of the weather.

Yuck. And, (Daisuke checked his watch, frowning guiltily as he realised) Ken must be out in that! Not to mention that's the kind of weather that makes the grass all sloppy and muddy, and impossible to have a good game of soccer on; Ken hates that too. He supposes they'll be staying in this afternoon, then - that is, if Ken even decides to come through all of this.

Daisuke stretched tiredly, and then made his way into the kitchen, drinking some orange juice from the carton after surreptitiously checking to make sure that no-one else was around to see.

What to do, what to do...

He took over the empty sofa, sprawling out and flicking through the TV channels listlessly, despite the fact that he knew full well there would be absolutely nothing on. But Sundays crawl by when you have nothing to do, and Daisuke was trying to avoid listening anxiously to the rain, or for the door bell to ring...

Daisuke started and drowsily opened his eyes, blinking and finally leaping up when he realised what had awoken him. He stumbled a little, still uncoordinated from being startled out of his unintended rest. The apartment seemed awfully quiet and the only sound was now that of the rain still pouring down outside.

He finally reached the door and dragged it open, and was confronted by a very soggy-looking Ken. Really though, Daisuke thought, that was the only way to describe him. His dark hair was plastered down and dripping relentlessly onto his thin shirt (which was also soaked through, and Daisuke found himself strangely absorbed by the way it clung to Ken's thin frame), and Ken's expression was utterly pitiful.

"...hi, Daisuke. I hate summer thunderstorms." He almost laughed at Ken's half-strangled, weary voice, but managed to control himself and instead pulled Ken inside.

"Ack, Ken, you look like you fell in a river!" Daisuke did grin then, and dashed out of the room leaving a faintly confused-looking Ken behind him. He returned a moment later, though, with a huge towel which he threw carelessly on top of the other boy, practically covering him.

Ken pulled the towel off, looking rumpled, and finally slipped off his shoes and came in from the doorway. Daisuke was actually feeling fairly guilty about Ken getting soaked coming all the way across Tokyo to see _him_, so he pushed him in the direction of the sofa.

"Go sit over there, okay? I'll be over in a minute." Ken raised an eyebrow curiously, but wrapped the towel around him gratefully, and made his way across the room anyway.

Daisuke was rummaging around in the kitchen area, feeling rather pleased with himself. It wasn't often that he got to do things for Ken, so this was actually quite novel. (Well, also there was the fact he'd discovered a note from his mother on the fridge, apologising that she'd had to go out on an urgent errand, and wouldn't be back until about six pm.) Not wonder it had been so quiet! Though he supposed that Jun must still be around somewhere; probably in her room.

Yep, Sunday had already looked up.

Ken was, meanwhile, feeling rather embarrassed. He still couldn't believe he hadn't so much as had a jacket with him - but then, considering that when he had left Tamachi it had been a beautiful day, it wasn't so surprising. He was actually quite glad that Mrs Motomiya didn't seem to be about, as he knew she would have been persistently fussing over him from the moment he walked in the door.

He was still glad he'd made the journey to see Daisuke though - even though it had been quite a long time now (four years, Ken thought with some measure of surprise), meeting up was always worthwhile. He'd made a few friends at his new high school - or so he would say when questioned - but to be perfectly honest, Ken still found it hard to be open with people, and was always reluctant to make the first move. As such, he supposed that at Tamachi, he really just had acquaintances more than friends. He missed the other Chosen, too, and got to see them even less than Daisuke.

Ken sat cross-legged on the sofa, wrapped up in the towel, listening to the sounds of Daisuke moving around the kitchen and the clinking of bowls. He wasn't entirely sure what Daisuke was up to, but was perfectly content to sit in the warm and dry, safe in the knowledge that his best friend wasn't too far away.

Before too long, he felt himself tiring - and for the second time that day, a teenage boy fell asleep on the Motomiyas' sofa.

Ken, however, was woken up by a triumphant-sounding Daisuke's, "Ta-da!" He blinked sleepily and yawned, blushing when he saw Daisuke's amused expression.

"Sorry..." he began, but trailed off when he realised several things: firstly, Daisuke was holding out a steaming mug and plate for him to take; secondly, Daisuke was looking extremely proud of himself; and thirdly, Daisuke had a streak of flour across his cheek, and his t-shirt was also suffering from a liberal white dusting.

He accepted the plate and cup with a surprised, "thank you!", and Daisuke seemed to get embarrassed then, scratching the back of his neck nervously for a moment before dashing off back to the kitchen to go and fetch his own.

Hotcakes. Hotcakes and green tea.

Ken felt strange, and yet oddly pleased that Daisuke had done this - and done this for _him_, it seemed. Getting wet seemed more and more worth it.

Daisuke, on the other hand, was feeling more and more apprehensive. It was only right that he felt like he needed to take care of Ken… right? And that soft, small smile on Ken's face, when he'd woken up and seen Daisuke standing there, it was supposed to make him feel this elated... right?

He returned to sit beside Ken, who was still wrapped up in the big towel, and was sipping his tea slowly.

"So, uh...do you feel any better now? Sorry you had to get so wet…" He began uncertainly, but then Ken turned to him, dark eyes momentarily lit up by a brilliant smile. Daisuke swallowed, mouth suddenly dry. Ken put down his tea and seemed to be considering something, biting his lower lip as though torn.

Daisuke thought that Ken still looked fairly tired, so when Ken shifted a little, and it resulted in Ken resting his head on Daisuke's shoulder, eyes slowly drifting shut again, this seemed only natural. Similarly, it then only seemed right for Daisuke to take that chance to tentatively lift a hand and stroke Ken's still-damp hair out of his eyes. A quiet sigh of contentment escaped from Ken, and Daisuke felt his own smile grow. In some ways it was so strange, being this close. But then, neither of them had ever been exactly normal.

Yeah - despite the way they began, Sundays always turned out to be the best day of the week.


End file.
